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Category: General Election

Why doesn’t Gord sound convincing about the election?

Why doesn’t Gord sound convincing about the election?

Would a bit more frankness help his position? It’s inevitable, I suppose, given the total cock-up in Labour’s communications ahead of the election that never was in October 2007, that Brown is going to be pressed about the date whenever he submits himself to an interview. This came up in the latest Andrew Marr interview and it will come up time and time again. So why doesn’t he make an effort to sound convincing? For perhaps the most damaging feature…

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Has the NHS ceased to be a political issue?

Has the NHS ceased to be a political issue?

But is this good news for Labour? Almost every month for getting on for three decades MORI has asked its “most important issues facing the country” questions in exactly the same format. Two points are put, both completely unprompted. Firstly they are asked which is the “most important issue” then they are asked to name, without a limit on numbers “other important issues” A striking feature of the latest poll is that the NHS, a long-time political football and an…

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Is Brown losing Polly’s support again?

Is Brown losing Polly’s support again?

Guardian video after about 2 minutes Are Toynbee’s comments an attack or an excuse? In a New Year video the veteran Guardian columnist, Polly Toynbee, makes some highly pointed comments about Gordon Brown’s communication capabilities which I have not seen picked up elsewhere. She says of the PM “He’s not a very good speech maker. He doesn’t have a great facility with the English language. He’s not very emotionally intelligent. He can’t reach out and touch people and make them…

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Would a deal with Brown destroy the Lib Dems?

Would a deal with Brown destroy the Lib Dems?

Is Oborne right about a pre-election LAB-LD “arrangement” There’s a fascinating piece in the Mail today by columnist, Peter Oborne, in which he suggests that something might be going on between Brown’s government and the Lib Dems that would bring the latter more closely into a “government of national unity”. The pretext, of course, would be the need for coming together in order to deal with the economic storm. “Unity” in this context, of course, does not extend to the…

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Are “Brown Bounce 1” losers still affecting the markets?

Are “Brown Bounce 1” losers still affecting the markets?

Is this why the Tory spreads continue to advance? The New Year PB “Balance of Money” Index based on the average prices on the spread betting markets suggests that Cameron’s Tories will win the next general election with an overall majority of 28 seats. The Index is so called because it reflects the collective views of punters based on how much they are prepared to risk on the number of seats the parties will get in the coming contest. These…

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The final bet of 2008: Will Gord survive till midnight?

The final bet of 2008: Will Gord survive till midnight?

What I am carrying forward into 2009 At midnight tonight, assuming nothing untoward happens to Gord, I pick up on quite a hefty bet that I placed in the early summer at 5/6 that Brown would still be Prime Minister at the end of the year. And if by any remote chance he doesn’t there are a another couple of bets I placed at 6/1 and 5/1 at a different time that he would be out by the end of…

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Which one is likely to be out first?

Which one is likely to be out first?

Is the William Hill 7/4 on it being Gord a value bet? Thanks to Noisy Summer on the the previous thread for picking this up but William Hill has just launched a new online market on which of the three party leaders – Brown. Clegg or Cameron – will leave their post first. The bookie makes Clegg the 11/10 favourite with Brown at 7/4 and Cameron at 5/2. I think that they have got this wrong and that the Brown…

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Is this the main argument for a 2009 election?

Is this the main argument for a 2009 election?

Can Labour expect a drubbing on June 5th? Cast your mind back to the last Euro Elections which were held on the same day as the local elections on June 10th 2004. In the weeks beforehand the Tories had suffered serious opinion poll reverses as UKIP’s strength started to emerge and all the predictions were that the Tory leader of just eight months, Michael Howard, was going to fail at his first major electoral test. Yet when it came to…

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